christmas party 09 - heavy hors d'oeuvres

Kaytie’s boss thought it was hysterical that the invitation to our Christmas cocktail party asserted that we would be serving “heavy” hors d’oeuvres. I’m not exactly sure why; it seems that best way to describe what we do. We like to cook, and people like to eat our food. That’s why we have the party – to show off and bask in praise. (And it’s nice to see all of our friends…)

Anyway, the first couple of years, we did not advertise that the hors d’oeuvres were heavy, so people ate dinner before arriving at the party, and then they ate our food, and then they were uncomfortably full. By printing “heavy hors d’oeuvres” on the invitation, we avoid all of that. People show up hungry and leave happy.

This year, we had several old favorites on the menu. Pumped up jalapeno poppers, venison tenderloin medallions on gorgonzola-horseradish crustini (always a favorite), and truffled devilled eggs (Kaytie’s regular devilled eggs, plus a couple drops of truffle oil).

Kaytie also made a pate mold (see above). This is a secret family recipe that I will not post because the main ingredient is bologna. Bologna, mayonnaise, and pickle relish. I was not a fan of this – it tastes like bologna. Kaytie and Tott both liked it, so we served it.

Kaytie made shrimp toast cups (post coming soon), and I made little pork bites. These were braised pork on Mexican cornbread muffins with a cranberry-balsamic reduction. They tasted good, but the cornbread was a little too dry. We should have spread some butter on the mini muffins.

Braised Pork

6-8 lb pork shoulder, bone-in
12 oz beer
Brine:
10-12 oz molasses
1 ½ cups kosher salt
2 cups orange juice
6 cups water
2-3 bay leaves
4-5 dashes Worcestershire sauce
Rub:
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp garlic salt
1 Tbs ground chipotle peppers (or chili powder)
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs paprika

The night before you want to cook the pork, prepare the brine. Combine the molasses, salt, OJ, water, bay leaves, and Worcestershire sauce, and stir. Trim off any really large pieces of fat from the pork. Immerse the pork shoulder in the brine. (I put it in a large pot and put a stack of dinner plates on top to weight down the meat and keep it under the surface of the brine.) Let it soak in the brine for 8-12 hours, in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 325.

Remove the pork from the brine and pat dry with paper towels.

Mix together the spices for the rub. While wearing latex gloves (this will make the rub stick on the meat, and not on your hands), rub the spices all over the pork shoulder, especially in the crevices.

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the pork on all sides, about 3 minutes each side.

Dump the beer into the dutch oven, and cover tightly.

Put it in the oven for 3 ½ to 4 hours, until the meat pulls away from the bone. I use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. The man recommends we cook pork to 160 degrees; I stop cooking around 150. You decide.

Use tongs or forks to pull the meat away from the bone and separate it from the fat. Serve with a balsamic reduction or BBQ sauce.

easy cheesy black-eyed peasy

Well, here we are. Another New Year's Day. We started this blog a year ago with lists of our resolutions. Some, we were able to check off, and some will be added the list for 2010. I suppose that's the way it goes. (Pretty profound, huh?)

Anyway, let's get down to business. (I've never been one for nostalgia or for waxing poetic.) It's New Year's Day. Time to eat black-eyed peas and watch bowl games.

Cheesy Black-Eyed Pea Dip

approximately 16 oz Velveeta
1 can black-eyed peas, drained
1 small can green chilies, not drained
½ onion, diced (OR 3-4 green onions, sliced, depending on what's in the fridge)
4-5 dashes of Louisiana hot sauce
salt & pepper

If you are using a white or yellow onion, go ahead and sauté it in a little butter over medium heat until the onion is translucent. If you’re using green onions, don’t worry about it.

Cut the Velveeta into large cubes. (This will facilitate the melting process.)

Dump the "cheese" into a microwave-safe bowl, and then dump everything else in the bowl, too.

Heat in the microwave until melted and well-combined. The best way to do this is to heat for a minute, stir, heat for a minute, stir, and so on.

Serve with Fritos.

**I did not use the microwave this morning. I did it the way the pioneers did, in the top of a double boiler. (Kaytie gave me an old-school aluminum double boiler for Christmas, and I was excited to try it out. She also gave me some pink Himalayan salt, which comes in large rocks that have to be scraped on a tiny grater. She’s so cool.)

God bless us, everyone!

One of the strongest memories from my childhood Christmases is that of my parents making peanut butter balls in the kitchen. Dad would roll the peanut butter mixture into balls, and Mom would dip them in melted chocolate. (Or maybe it was the other way around... I don't recall, but that's not the point anyway.)

Peanut butter balls are delicious. Tott says they're better than sex. What better endorsement could a tiny Christmas treat get??

I always make a double batch of these guys for our Christmas party. (That way, there's enough to snack on before the party, and there's always some left over.) I suppose you could make these at any time of the year, but I'm betting they taste best at Christmas.

Peanut Butter Balls

1 box powdered sugar (I think it's a pound)
1 cup of butter, room temp
1 jar creamy peanut butter (around 12 oz)
8 oz milk chocolate chips
1/4-1/2 bar of parafin wax

Combine the butter and sugar, and beat until smooth. Add peanut butter and keep beating until well blended.

Roll into balls. Smaller balls are better because the chocolate-to-peanut butter ratio is higher. My great grandmother's recipe card instructs us to roll the peanut butter mixture into 1/2-inch balls. I think it is preposterous to think that one might make such small balls. The ones I make are usually about an inch in diameter.

Grate the parafin wax into the top of a double boiler. Add the chocolate, and stir until melted and well combined.

Dip the balls in the chocolate, roll them around for a second with a fork to make sure they're completely covered, and then lift out.

Let the extra chocolate drip off for a moment, and then set on a cookie sheet that has been lined with wax paper.

Cool them in the refrigerator, and store them there. They can be (and always are) set out at a party, but they will soften a bit at room temperature. They're better at fridge temp.


Merry Christmas to you and yours!

christmas party 2009

It's our favorite time of year again. Christmastime! (Actually, it's been Christmastime for a while now, but we've been busy. Hence, a lack of posts.)

We love the movies, the music, the presents, the parties, the drinks, the decor, all of it! Most of all, we love throwing our Christmas party. We start planning the menu around the first of August, and it's a great chance to get compliments on our food and have a great time with all of our friends. (This year was also our chance to show off our new house and all the work we've done on it.)

This year's party was Saturday night, so we have loads of new recipes to share. I'm going to try to space out the posts, though. If I put all of the recipes up at once, you'd start drooling copiously, and too much drool can be hell on a keyboard.

I'll start with the little bowls that we place on virtually every flat surface in the house. We've found that when people are drinking (it is a cocktail party), they like to snack on something salty. So, we give everyone easy access to popcorn, olives, and nuts.

Fancy Olives

Stuffed olives are great, but they're expensive to buy and a pain in the, um, neck to make. Here's a quick and easy way to modify your olives.

Do this 3 or 4 days before you want to serve the olives. Get a jar of green olives from the grocery store. Drain the brine. (Next year, I'll save it in a small pitcher so we can make dirty martinis.) Peel 4-5 garlic cloves and slice them in half lengthwise. Cut two 1/2-inch slices of red onion into quarters. Put the garlic and onions into the drained jar of olives, and shake 'em all about. Fill the jar back up with olive oil, and let it sit in the fridge for 3 or 4 days. Ta da!

Roasted Pecans

These are awesome. 'Nuf said.

24 oz raw pecan halves
3 Tbs butter
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs garlic salt
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the butter. Mix in the brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, cayenne, and cinnamon.

Pour the mixture over the pecans, and toss to coat the nuts.

Bake the nuts on a cookie sheet for about 10-12 minutes, until they start to brown.

Remove and drain on paper towels.

Roasted Walnuts

Kaytie also made roasted walnuts, but she went for a different flavor on them.

24 oz raw walnuts
3 Tbs butter
3 tsp garlic salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp ground chipotle pepper
1/8 tsp cumin

Follow the above procedure. Melt the butter. Mix in the garlic salt, cayenne, paprika, chipotle, and cumin.

Pour the mixture over the walnuts, and toss to coat the nuts.

Bake the nuts on a cookie sheet for about 10-12 minutes, until they start to brown.

Remove and drain on paper towels.

**Obviously, you could use either pecans or walnuts for either recipe.

pumped up poppers

If you're ever at a loss for a party snack, you should definitely make our jalapeno poppers. (Actually, we got the recipe from my sister Sara.) They're delicious, and because they're made with turkey bacon and fat-free cream cheese, they're pretty good for you.

We, of course, have a hard time leaving well enough alone, so Kaytie went looking for a new recipe, which I tweaked when I couldn't find chorizo at the grocery store.

Anyway, this recipe is great. It was a hit at our neighborhood Halloween party, and I'm sure it would be a hit at yours. If you have a little extra time, you should try out these beefed-up (well, sausaged-up) poppers.

Pumped Up Poppers

24 jalapeno peppers
1 lb ground pork sausage
8 oz smoked gouda, grated
1/4 red onion, finely diced
1 block cream cheese at room temp
1 egg
3 Tbs sour cream
salt and pepper
1 pkg turkey bacon, sliced in half

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut the tops off the jalapenos and split them lengthwise. Scrape the seeds and ribs out. This ensures that your poppers will be delicious without being too hot.

Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat. Drain the fat, and put the sausage in a large mixing bowl.

Add the cheese, onion, egg, sour cream, and cream cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Fill the pepper halves with the cheese mixture. Wrap half a slice of bacon around each pepper and secure with a toothpick.

Put the poppers on a rack (like a rack used for cooling cookies) placed on a cookie sheet. (Line the cookie sheet with foil for easy clean-up.)

Bake for about 15 minutes, and then broil for 3-5 minutes to make the bacon crispy. Keep an eye on them while broiling, though, so you don't burn them.

**You're going to have extra filling. You can just buy more jalapenos, or you can experiment with other things, like mushrooms, tomatoes, or bell peppers. These other things could probably be baked for about 15 minutes at 375.

boo!

We come from crafty stock, which means that we carve pumpkins at Halloween. And when one carves a pumpkin, one is left with a whole mess of pumpkin flesh, goop, and seeds.

Kaytie used the flesh to make some Thai-influenced pumpkin soup. I'm not sure if she'll post about it, as it was a tad on the bland side. (I thought it could do with some bacon...)

And as far as I can tell, the goop is useless and only exists to make eating the pumpkin seeds more difficult.

But the seeds are tasty.

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

pumpkin seeds
salt
olive oil

Preheat oven to 400.

Separate the seeds from the goop. (I couldn’t find an easy way to do this. I tried rinsing them in a colander and floating them in a bowl of water, but it pretty much boiled down to me squeezing them out of the goop and then rinsing them off.)

Boil the seeds. Use about 2 cups of water for every ½ cup of seeds. Add up to 1 Tbs salt for each cup of water used, depending on how salty you like your seeds. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the seeds.

Spread olive oil on a cookie sheet. Spread the seeds out on the sheet in a single layer.

Bake on the top oven rack for 10-20 minutes until the seeds are browned to your satisfaction. Let the pan cool on a rack.

**These are good, but I think I may spice them up a little bit next time. I think I could sprinkle some Greek seasoning or some other seasoned salt on the seeds before baking them.

milk, please

When I was teaching, I tried to elicit good behavior through a system of awards. Kids could earn tickets, stickers, or points (depending on which year I was teaching) that they could then trade in for privileges or prizes. Basically, I bribed them.

By far, the most coveted prize was a batch of chocolate chip cookies. (I handed them out at the end of my class - let the next teacher deal with the sugar high!) I stumbled onto the recipe on the back of a Butter Flavor Crisco can and made just a couple tweaks. It's the best chocolate chip cookie I've had. Seriously.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

(makes about 4-5 dozen)

1 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
3/4 cup Butter Flavor Crisco
2 Tbs milk
1 Tbs vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine brown sugar, Crisco, milk, and vanilla, and mix well. Add the egg, and mix well again.

Add flour, salt, and baking soda, and (guess what?!) mix well.

Stir in the chocolate chips. (In the above picture, I used both semi-sweet and white chocolate chips, but normally, I use only semi-sweet chips.)

Use a spoon to scoop out portions of the cookie dough that are roughly 1 1/2 inch in diameter, and drop them on an ungreased cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 8 minutes. (This is the perfect time for my oven to produce soft cookies - you may need to adjust the time by a minute or two.)

Remove cookies from the pan immediately, and cool on a cooling rack.

**If you don't want to make the entire batch, the cookie dough can be kept in the freezer. You can scoop right onto the cookie sheet and put the cold dough right into the oven.